Men’s Slalom Results | Women’s Slalom Results
CANNON MOUNTAIN, N.H. — Vegard Busengdal might not know who Wally Pipp is, but Isak Klein did a pretty good imitation of him on skis over the weekend, as Klein, a late substitute for New Mexico, was again UNM’s top male alpine finisher as the Lobos moved up one spot to seventh at the NCAA Skiing Championships, hosted by the University of New Hampshire.
Overall, Klein and Patrick Brachner earned 21 points for New Mexico, and the trio of Sydney Staples, Karoline Søvik Myklebust and Katharine Irwin picked up 25 points. That was enough to move UNM ahead of Northern Michigan into eighth. Now UNM’s Nordic ailing Nordic squad will attempt to hold off a strong NMU contingent.
For Klein, he was relaxing in Albuquerque on Monday while the Busengdal, Brachner and Rob Greig were practicing at Cannon Mountain. Late Monday, Busengdal, who figured to be in the championship hunt in both the giant slalom and slalom, was injured when he caught an edge and tumbled under a retaining fence and into a snow cannon that is used to make fake snow.
Klein got on a plane on Tuesday, missing all of training and the NCAA banquet, but arrived late Tuesday night. Instead, he was UNM’s top finisher in the giant slalom, and he did it again in the slalom, finishing 18th and picking up 13 points. Brachner was 23rd to complete his first NCAA Championships, scoring eight points. Rob Greig didn’t finish his second run.
On the women’s side, Sydney Staples in her final meet finished 19th for 12 points, Myklebust 24th for seven, and Irwin 25th for six.
The Lobos now have 155.5 points overall for seventh place, 37.5 ahead of Northern Michigan. Vermont is ahead of UNM in sixth, but at 255 points.
NOTES: New Mexico didn’t record a men’s alpine All-American for the first time for only the second time in the last 14 years, but the second time in three seasons … Rob Greig was a giant slalom All-American last year … UNM’s three All-Americans trails last year’s total of five.